Center guide for flush valve ball



4, 1956 T. N. GRANGER 2,758,314

CENTER GUIDE FOR FLUSH VALVE BALL Filed Aug. 8, 1952 INVENTOR. 77:74 Granger BY 1;

United tates 2,758,314 CENTER GUIDE FOR FLUSH VALVE BALL Ted N. Granger, North Bend, Ncbr.

Application August 8, 1952, Serial No. 303,269

'1 Claim. 01. 4-57 This invention relates to flush tank valves and more particularly it is an object of this invention to provide a more eflicient solution to the problem of water leakage past such valves.

The annoying nuisance of water leakage is primarily due to .the faulty seating of the valve ball in valves of the prior art. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a valve assembly designed for the proper seating of the valve ball. Still another object of the invention is to provide an assembly as described employing a guide rod having a mounting base easily attached and removed from the valve seat fitting.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an assembly employing a vertical guide rod mounted on the valve seat and a guide rod tube slidably receiving. the guide rod, the guide red tube being fixed to the valve ball.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an assembly, the guide rod of which can be supported by a mounted base permanently fixed to the valve seat fitting if desired.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide an assembly as described including in combination a resilient stop clip having a hooked end adapted to be clasped around the overflow pipe and having another end portion disposed for arresting upward movement of the valve ball.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a resilient stop clip having one or more loops at one end thereof which are adapted to be placed over the top of the overflow pipe and slid downwardly of the overflow pipe into a position whereby the other end of the clip can effectively arrest the upward motion of the valve ball, the resiliency of the loop or loops clamping about the overflow pipe to maintain a stop clip in desired position.

Yet a further object is to provide an assembly as described in which a flexible chain is employed for raising the valve ball.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a device for the purpose described which is sturdy and durable in construction, reliable and efficient in operation, and relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, assemble and utilize.

A particular object of this invention is to provide a more effective valve assembly, the parts of which can be placed in position in the flush tank by an unskilled homeowner or housewife, and in a very short time.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claim, the scope of the invention not being limited to the drawings themselves as the drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a way in which the principles of this invention can be applied.

Other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claim.

2,758,314 Patented Aug. 14, 1956 In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a side view of a flush tank valve assembly shown with a portion of the valve seat fitting and a portion of the valve ball broken away for showing interior construction, the bottom of the valve tank being partially shown in cross section.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a resilient hook-type spring stop clip of this invention.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the assembly of Figure 1 shown with the valve ball removed to illustrate the position of the resilient mounting base of the guide rod.

Figure 4 is a perspective detail view of the guide rod in its preferred form showing its resilient spring mountng base.

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of a modification of the hook spring clip of Figure 2, the modification of Figure 5 being a loop type.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of a valve seat fitting shown with a guide rod therein having a permanently attached mounting base.

Figure 7 is a view-in-section taken along the line 7--7 of Figure 6 showing the permanent mounting base modification.

The flush tank valve assembly of this invention is for use with a flush tank valve seat fitting best seen at 10in Figure l.

The valve seat fitting 10 is of a conventional construc tion having a main portion as indicated by numeral 12 having a hollow interior with an inner wall surface 14.

The main portion 12 has a circular first opening 16 extending through its upper side and in communication with the hollow interior.

The fitting 10 has an overflow pipe supporting portion 2% extending horizontally to the side of the main body portion 12. The supporting portion has an opening 22 through the upper side thereof for receiving an overflow pipe 24 which extends vertically upward in conventional manner.

The overflow pipe supporting portion 20 has a hollow interior having inner Walls 28, the interior forming com munication between the overflow pipe opening 22 and the hollow interior of the main valve fitting portion 12.

The main body portion of the fitting 12 has a down wardly extending threaded portion 3!) attached thereto on its lower side, the portion 30 extending through an opening 34 through the bottom wall 36 of a flush tank. A shoulder 4th on the fitting 10 engages the upper side of a resilient gasket 50 which seals the opening 34, being held in place by a washer 52 and a nut 54.

All of the foregoing is old in the art. The new features of this invention are now being described.

In accordance with this invention avalve ball 60 is povided having a closed top and having a bottom" open ing 62 with a wall 6-6 of approximately hemispherical shape extending upwardly from the bottom opening 62', the size of the wall 66 being sufiicient at its upper end for sealing the valve seat opening 16. The valve ball 60 is further provided with an upper portion 70 extending inwardly to a centrally disposed upwardly protruding valve ball portion '72.

A tube 81) extends through the center of the top of th guide ball 6i) and through the portion 72, the tube be ing normally vertically disposed.

The tube 8b is attached to the guide ball 60 in watertight manner and the upper end of the tube 80 is sealed at 84 also in watertight manner.

A chain 86 is preferably attached to the upper end of the tube 84 in a suitable way whereby the ball 60 can be raised in accordance with a pull on the upper end of the chain 86. The chain 86 is preferably of thet ype' in cluding a series of spaced apart spherical portions 88,

each forming a part of a link, the spherical portions 88 being hollow. The other end of each link is formed of a spherical portion adapted to be rotatably received in the spherical portions 88. The upper end of the chain can be attached by a connection 90 to the lifting arm of the flush tank, not shown.

The lower end of the tube 80 preferably extends to a point approximately one-fourth of the distance upwardly from the bottom of the ball 60 although its exact position is not of importance.

Also, in accordance with this invention a guide rod 100 is disposed in vertical position extending upwardly into the tube 80 a suflicient distance for effectively guiding upward and downward movement of the tube 80. The guide rod is of a size for the effective sliding of the tube 80 thereon and the upper end of the guide rod is shown at 102 in dotted lines in Figure l. A mounting base 110 is provided for the guide rod 100 and is attached thereto.

The mounting base 100 is in the form of a resilient loop adapted to seek a normal shape shown in Figure 4. The base 110 has an outwardly projecting approximately V-shaped portion on one side extending from a point 120 to a point 122. The forward end of the V-shaped portion is rounded as shown at 124 for engaging against the inner wall of the opening 22 portion of the overflow pipe supporting portion 28, as best seen in Figure 3.

The approximately V-shaped portion is attached to the guide rod 100 by a straight segment 130 which is horizontally disposed and is attached to the point 120 of the V-shaped portion.

The mounting base 110 further includes a large, ap-

proximately semi-circular portion indicated at 134- and extending from the point 122 in a horizontal arc around to a terminal end 136. The approximately semi-circular portion 134 is of a much larger size than the V-shaped portion of the mounting base 110. The larger size is for engaging the larger diametered inner walls 14 of the main fitting portion 12. It will be seen that the radius of curvature of the portion 134 is substantially the same as the radius of the circular inner wall 14 whereby the resilient portion 134 presses against the wall 14 at the point 122 and at the terminal end 136, and at points therebetween. The design is such that the base 110 fits into the valve seat fitting in a position for permitting the valve ball 60 to seat and without the lower end of the tube 80 bumping the mounting base segment 130.

A stop member generally indicated at 150 is provided havlng a hook portion 156 on one end thereof, the hook portion being in the shape of a segment of a circle of a size substantially greater than a semi-circle for adequately hooking about the overflow pipe 24. The terminal end of the hook portion 156 is provided with a guide boss 158 which has a portion attached to the terminal end of the hook portion 156 and extending outwardly therefrom and radially, the outer terminal end of the boss 15f] being bent backward in approximate parallelism with ad acent portions of the hook section 156 whereby the boss 158 will guide the stop member 150 about the overflow pipe 24 for fitting into the hook section 156.

The other end of the hook portion 156 is attached at a point 160 to an outwardly extending straight portion 162 of the stop member, the portion 162 itself being attached to a loop portion 164 at the point 166. The loopportion 164 loops about the tube 8 3 in operation and is adapted to engage the upper side of the valve ball 60 to arrest its upper movement. The loop portion 164 is preferably of a size for fitting around the protruding por tion 72 of the ball 60 with ample clearance for engaging the upper wall portion 70 of the ball 60.

In Figure a modification of the stop member of Figure 2 is shown.- The stop member of Figure 5 is provided witha loop'portion 180 which is of a size. for engaging the wall portion 70 of the ball 60. The loop portion 180 of the stop member 182 of Figure 5 is attached at the point 184 to an inwardly extending straight portion 186 which latter is itself connected to a coil 188 of resilient material adapted to wrap about the overflow pipe 24 and to squeeze the pipe 24 for holding the stop member 182 in position. If desired, the coil 188 can be supplemented by a further coil 190 anda portion of the coil 192 although it will be understood that the particular number of coils is of no importance.

In Figure 6 a modification of the mounting base of this invention is shown. In Figure 6 the guide rod 100 is provided with a mounting base 200. The mounting base 200 is transversely disposed in horizontal position across the bottom of the guide rod 100 and is rigidly secured thereto in any suitable manner. The mounting base 200 is in the form of a bar, preferably, the ends of the bar being suitably secured to the sides of the inner wall 14 in any suitable manner as indicated at 204 and 206.

Figure 7 forms an example of a permanently fixed mounting base.

It will be understood that the guide rod 100 of Fig ure 4 and its mounting base may be integrally formed, and that if desired the guide rod 100 of Figure 7 and'its mounting base 200 may be integrally formed. Also, it is preferable that the stop members 150 and 182 be formed with all sections integral.

It will be understood from the above that this invention has provided a more effective flush tank valve assembly and has provided a flush tank valve assembly the of some change and modification without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out my invention in practice,

. except as claimed.

I claim:

A flush tank valve assembly for use with a flush tank valve seat fitting having a main portion with a hollow interior, said main portion having a circular first opening extending through its upper side, and said fitting having an overflow pipe supporting portion extending horizontally to the side, said supporting portion having an opening through its upper side for receiving an overflow pipe, said supporting portion having a hollow interior in communication with said overflow pipe opening and with the hollow interior of said main portion, an overflow pipe anchored in said second opening and extending upwardly therefrom, said assembly comprising: a valve ball having a closed top and an open bottom with a wall of up proximately hemispherical shape extending upwardly from portion; and a stop member attachable to said overflow pipe and having a portion adapted to engage the upper side of said ball to arrest upward movement of said ball, the mounting base of the guide rod being composed of resilient material having an approximately V-shaped portion adapted to fit into thev hollow interior of the overflow. pipe supporting portion and also having another portion adapted to engage against the inner wall of the hollow interior of said main portion whereby the mounting base exerts a pressure against the interior Walls of said main portion and of said overflow pipe supporting portion to maintain the mounting base in position for supporting said guide rod.

Scott Apr. 22, 1884 Mahurin Dec. 21, 1909 6 Geiger Feb. 8, 1910 Sundell July 28, 1931 Cobb Jan. 31, 1933 Teahen Aug. 20, 1935 Marten June 21, 1938 Reed Oct. 10, 1939 Powers July 2, 1940 Musielak June 12, 1951 Limongelli July 24, 1951 

